The King Judges Us

In ancient Corinth, in Greece, there's an elevated platform where judges once sat. On the front is a nameplate, Bema. That's the word Paul uses in referring to the judgment seat of Christ, where all believers will give account of their deeds.

In Corinth, the Bema was outdoors and public. So may be our time before Jesus. Today, a probing look at every Christian's appointment at a heavenly Bema.

From Chicago, we welcome you to The Moody Church Hour, a weekly service of worship and teaching under the ministry of Dr. Erwin Lutzer. Today, we continue a 10-part look into the future we're calling When He Shall Come. Later, we'll learn about what happens when we appear at his judgment seat.

Pastor Lutzer comes now to open our service. The Bible makes it very clear that Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. What that means for us has to be individually determined through his word. But we confess today that the governments of the world shall be upon his shoulders.

And because he is the king, we can confidently give our cares, our concerns to him. And if you have brought sin in your heart this morning, if you've brought it with you, would you use even these moments, these quiet moments of confession and yieldedness that together with one voice and one heart, we may worship of the Lord, our God, our King? Would you join me as we pray? Father, we do rejoice today that you are the Lord, the King. And we gladly give ourselves to you with anticipation. We earnestly pray that you will be blessed as you listen to our worship and as you hear our prayers. And we invite your blessed Holy Spirit to lead us, to guide us, to convict us, to encourage us, to be to us all that the comforter can be for your honor and glory. In Jesus' blessed name, Amen.

Your Lord and King, the Lord. Rejoice in thanks and sin, and triumph evermore. Give up your heart.

Give up your voice. Rejoice again, I say. Rejoice. Rejoice in glorious hope, our Lord, the Judge shall come. And take his servants on to their eternal home. Give up your heart.

Give up your voice. Rejoice again, I say. Rejoice. Our scripture reading this morning is taken from 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, verses 1-10. For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.

For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened, not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body, we are away from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Amen. Jesus Christ, look out for me, face to face, I know Him, firing up the fiery sky, face to face, all is glory, I shall see Him cry and cry, face to face, all blissful moment, face to face, see and know, face to face with my believer, Jesus Christ, who loves me so, face to face, I shall know Him, firing up the fiery sky, face to face, all is glory, I shall see Him cry and cry. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. That's what we read in the book of Revelation. But the question that we have to ask ourselves is a very frank question, namely, what are tears doing in heaven anyway? Why would God have to wipe away all tears?

Well, there are two answers that are generally given. One is that we will regret the fact that there are people whom we hope to be in heaven who will not be there, and well might we weep when that takes place. But there's another explanation, and I think possibly I prefer it, and that is we will weep when we think of the regrets that we have because of the selfish lives that we lived in light of all the blessings that God gave us and all the opportunities that we had and because we did so poorly when we stood before the Lord at the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. The Bible says that all Christians shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ as we shall see. There are two massive judgments in the Bible. One is a judgment of all unbelievers, and we shall deal with that in a very future message because this is a series of 10 messages entitled When He Shall Come. And within time, we'll talk about the tribulation and the Antichrist, but this message is devoted to us as believers.

And for those of you who aren't believers, you need to listen in as well. Now, I need to say that the next message also is going to be on the fact that we are going to be with Jesus Christ in what is called the marriage supper of the Lamb. I believe that the judgment seat of Christ that I'm talking about today is going to take place after the rapture of the church. So as we spoke about the rapture last time, the judgment seat is next for you and for me. Now, there are many misconceptions about this judgment seat. Some Christians say, well, since it doesn't determine whether or not I'm going to heaven, it only has to do with rewards.

The way in which I live isn't really that important. And furthermore, doesn't Calvary cover it all? If Calvary covers it all, I can live whatever kind of a life I wish to live, and I'm going to come out OK. So let me explain it is true that Calvary covers it all. When we receive Jesus Christ as Savior, our sins are forgiven legally, past, present, and future. But this doesn't mean that we can live as we wish.

God disciplines us when we become disobedient, and He judges sin wherever it is found. In the book of Acts, there's the story of Ananias and Sapphira. You remember they told a lie. And as a result of that, God had them killed.

They just died. I can imagine that they arrived in heaven, and they said, what is this? We were believers, and we thought that Calvary covered it all. Well, yes, if they were believers, Calvary did cover it all. That's why they are in heaven. But we need to distinguish that from the fact that God deals with us as individual Christians, and He desires that we live holy lives. There's another misconception, and that is when we talk about such things as being rewarded, that is selfish motivation. You've heard that said. And then there are people who say, well, isn't it true that when we receive these crowns, we're just going to cast them on the feet of Jesus anyway, implying it's really no big deal. We do poorly. We only get one crown, but we cast it at the feet of Jesus and then go on into eternity and forget about the way in which we lived here on earth.

It's not quite that simple. For one thing, I don't believe that the rewards are medallions that we cast at the feet of Jesus. Now, we may receive crowns that we cast at the feet of Jesus, but if we do, we're going to pick them up again because we're going to rule with Christ forever and ever.

I believe that rewards has to do with positions of responsibility in the coming kingdom. Faithful in that which is little, you rule over little. Faithful in that which is much, that is to say that you are very faithful in what God has given you and that you have a larger responsibility in the coming kingdom. One day, a man who claimed to be a Christian said to me, you know, I'm a Christian, but I'm backslidden. I'm just doing my own thing. And then he said, you know, if when I get to heaven, as long as I make it into the back seat somewhere, I'm going to be happy, which always makes me look at those of you who are in the back seat.

I want to know whether or not you're happy and whether you're listening. I said to him, you know, that sounds so humble. You know, you're just willing to just be in the back row in heaven. But what if Jesus intended that you be in the front row, to use your analogy?

And the reason that you are in the back row is because you displeased him. The Apostle Paul says, we live to please Christ. Therefore, he says, we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. The reason that you will be, quote, in the back row, to use that analogy, is because of unfaithfulness and you didn't please Christ. By the way, sometimes there are those who say, oh, you know, when I get to heaven, as long as I have some little shack up there, I'll be satisfied. Have you ever noticed that sometimes the people who say that, who say that they're going to be satisfied with a shack in heaven, are not satisfied with a shack on earth?

Have you ever noticed that? My friend, go for rewards. Jonathan Edwards said that he was going to use all the energy that he had to gain as many rewards as possible, because the more rewards you get, that means the more pleasing you were to Jesus. So go for it.

Go for rewards. Two passages of Scripture, and you need to turn to both. The first one is 1 Corinthians chapter 3, as we warm up to the topic. 1 Corinthians chapter 3, where the Apostle Paul is speaking about rewards and speaking about lives and foundations and so forth. This is what he says in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. He says in verse 5, in verse 5, what then is Apollos and what is Paul, servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has signed to each? I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth, so neither he who plants it nor he who waters it is anything but only God who gives the growth.

Oh, it'd be so tempting to stop and comment on that, but I shall continue. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor, for we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field, God's building. First of all, he begins with an architectural reference, and then he begins to talk about agricultural first, I should say, and then architectural. You'll notice he says in verse 10, according to the grace God has given to me like a skilled master builder, I laid the foundation and someone else is building on it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now, if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one's work will become manifest for the day will disclose it because it will be revealed by fire. The fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built upon the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. What the apostle Paul is saying is we should think of our lives and as our ministries as either gold, silver, or precious stones, or wood, hay, stubble, and then when God torches it, the truth will come out as to what kind of people we really were and who we really served when we were here on earth. Many years ago, after there was a fire in Colorado, Rebecca and I were there and we drove past some of the homes.

It was just unbelievable. There was nothing left except the chimney because it was made of brick. In the very same way, the apostle Paul says there is some people who will make it to heaven, but their works will be burned up. You'll notice he says they shall be saved, but so is by fire. Dr. Harry Ironside, who occupied this pulpit during the 40s, said that there are some people who will make it to heaven, but will smell as if they were bought in a fire sale.

They will just make it. The imagery is that their lives will collapse behind them. Everything goes up in smoke, but they do make it into heaven. That's what Paul says, saved, so as by fire. Well, today we're going to learn how to build upon a foundation that lasts.

All that actually by way of introduction. My text today is in 2 Corinthians, and you need to turn to it also. Very important, 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. Paul says in verse 9, so whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. And that is talking to you and to me as believers. No wonder he goes on to say in verse 11, therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. Today's message is a very serious message.

It's easy to speak the words, but to visualize what this is going to be like, that takes the ministry of the Holy Spirit of God. So I hope that your mind is open. I hope that your heart is open in a very honest way as we look today at the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. A couple of comments. First of all, three characteristics of the judgment, and then three life-changing lessons.

That's where we are going. First characteristic is simply this, we will be judged fairly. We will be judged fairly.

You say, well, where is that in the text? Well, remember, this is the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. He who died to redeem us now lives to judge us. Jesus is going to want us to do well. After all, he is our brother.

He said to Mary, he said, you ascend to your father and to my father and to your God and my God. And so because of the fact that we are united to him, Jesus is going to take into account because he knows all things, all the contingencies. He's going to take a careful look at your life, but also how you are impacted by others, the effect of other people's behavior on you, and so forth. And there you will stand with Jesus and his evaluation is going to be immensely accurate. You say, well, Pastor Lutzer, will we be able to argue with Jesus? Well, you'd be free to, but hear it from here, you won't. You and I will be absolutely convinced that what Jesus is saying is just and right and true and reality as it exists.

You're going to be overwhelmed, and I will be too, by his meticulous justice. Also, you're going to be judged from the standpoint of when you receive Jesus Christ as savior from that time on. I don't believe that the life that you live before you were converted is going to be part of the evaluation. You say, well, where do you find that in the Scriptures? The Apostle Paul intended to do well even though he was doing terrible things before his conversion, involved in the persecution of the church, involved in even putting people to death, and yet he expected to do well at the judgment seat despite his sordid past. One day, a woman wrote to me after she heard me speak about this on the radio and said, do I have any opportunity to do well at the judgment seat? She said, in my pre-conversion days, I was involved in some pornographic movies and even now they are still being played. And she said, the evil influence that I am having continues.

I wrote back and I said, sister, I want to give you a word of encouragement. Yes, if you are faithful with what God now gave you, living a life that glorifies him, you too can do well at the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. We're going to be judged fairly.

But now it even becomes more personal. We are going to be judged individually. Your Bible is open. For we must all appear. By the way, everybody's going to show up. You're going to be there.

And may I simply throw in the fact that I think you're going to be there on time? He says we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done, each one. Let me give you a passage of scripture that is even clearer.

Romans chapter 14, we read these words. Why do you judge your brother? Paul says, why are you judging your brother? Let's suppose that you are in the church or you have some Christian friends and you're very critical of them.

You don't like them and so you're critical of them. Paul says, don't you dare judge them. They may do better than you in the judgment seat of Christ. He says, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and now I'm quoting, that each one may give account of himself to God.

Could that be any clearer? I went to a small Bible school in Canada that was so small that everyone who attended the Bible college sang in the choir. There were about 60 of us. The only requirement to get into the choir was to be there and having enrolled in the Bible college. I'm not such a bad singer, but there were some songs that were maybe a little difficult, or maybe I didn't know the words, so I just mowed them because I knew that everybody else would carry me. When you and I stand before Jesus, we all have to sing a solo.

Nobody to hide behind, no attorney to put the best twist on it, no opportunity or willingness to say, now, you know, if you really knew about this, you would understand why I did that. It's just one on one, you and Jesus. And there you are.

And you know that he knows everything. Is this judgment going to be public? You say, I sure hope it's not. Some people think it's going to be like in a large stadium, everybody watching. You say, how embarrassing, how humiliating can it possibly be? I've thought about this for a little while and concluded that I don't know whether it's going to be public. There were some parables that Jesus told that indicated it might be.

You remember when he said, take the talent from one and give it to the other? I mean, all that was public. But you know something?

If it's public, two things. First, we'll all be in the same boat. And second, I don't think it'll matter. When you are one on one with Jesus, the only thing that will matter is the expression on his face. The only thing in all the universe that you will care about, the whole universe can be watching. The question is, do you hear well done or don't you hear well done?

That's the only thing that will make any difference. It is a personal judgment. You, as a Christian, are going to go one on one with Jesus, each one of us giving an account of himself to God, nobody else.

You won't be expected to account for your wife or husbands. It's you and Jesus. First characteristic is we're going to be judged fairly. The second is we're going to be judged individually. And now you're going to begin to squirm. We're going to be judged thoroughly.

Notice what the text says. Your Bible is open. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ.

The Greek word is phanorau, which means to revealed, to be revealed before the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. One commentator says that it means to be laid bare. You remember when we were kids and we were playing with other kids, somebody would say, oh, you know, you have some money in your pocket. No, I don't. No, you do.

I don't believe you. And then we'd pull out our pockets and we'd turn them inside out, revealing even the last little piece of lint. You know, in 1 Corinthians chapter 3, the passage that we just read a moment ago, it says there that we shall be made manifest. The same imagery is used there. After all, the fire is rather thorough, isn't it? This is the final judgment. And John Murray, a famous theologian, says that Christians will desire it to finally see and magnify the grace of God and finally forever be done with the whole question of the way in which they lived here on earth.

Let me give you an example. Here's a Christian man who finds somebody else that he'd rather live with other than his wife. So he abandons her and the children and he marries somebody else and he goes live somewhere else. He doesn't really play any important role in the life of the children that he left behind, maybe sending them a birthday card once in a while, sending them a little bit of money, but he's not involved. And then, of course, there's a lot of animosity, a lot of injustice.

You know how ugly those situations become. And then Jesus returns and his wife, who's a Christian, she goes to heaven with Jesus and she goes up in the clouds and he does too. What do you think Jesus is going to do? Is he going to say, well, now let's just let bygones be bygones. The two of you just hold hands and walk into eternity and pretend that all that happened on earth just doesn't matter. You think that's what he's going to do?

Absolutely not. This is the final place where adjudication takes place. If you think I'm exaggerating, what about 1 Corinthians chapter 4? Paul says don't judge anything ahead of time because he says the Lord will come who will judge even the motives of men's hearts.

Can you get any more thorough than that? And it's there at the judgment seat that finally these matters are going to be resolved. That's why it's so important, you know, for us as believers to take care of all of these issues while we are on earth so that there are fewer issues to take care of when we get to heaven. You know, when the Bible says that we should not avenge ourselves, vengeance is mine. I will recompense, says the Lord. We think that relates only to the unsaved.

Oh, no, no, no. The reason that you don't have to avenge yourself even with another Christian is why? Because we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and it is there that Jesus is going to set the record straight. Now if you're thinking theologically, this is the question that's on the tip of your mind.

I can read it. You're saying, are you saying that we are going to see our sins, sins that have been cast into the depths of the sea? To quote John Murray again, he said that if we do, we'll certainly see them as having been forgiven because it is true that our sins no longer are held against us. This is not a point of punishment. There's nothing like that.

It is to determine rewards. But here's what I think possibly could happen. What if Jesus took all of your works and translated them either into gold, silver, and precious stones or wood, hay, stubble, and you see all of this pile, and then he were to torch it, would give you a pretty good evaluation of your life without you having to see any of your sins. However it is done, it is a thorough judgment. You say, well, is Jesus going to be angry?

No. All the anger of God was taken out when Jesus Christ died on the cross. But I can't help but think that he might be disappointed. He might be disappointed in the way in which you lived with all that he gave you because there you are. And if you are saved, so as by fire and the house collapses behind you, wouldn't that disappoint him?

Paul says we should live in such a way that we please him, which means that we can also live in such a way that displeases him, even though he loves us just as much because his love is independent of our performance. You know there's a man who had a dream that went like this. He said that in the dream all of his life was there in one big heap, various materials that he could not identify because you know how dreams are.

They can be very flighty and very confusing. But he says that then Jesus took a match and lit it. And he said everything went up in smoke and when it was done there was just a pile of ashes. And then he said he began to go through the ashes and the deeper he got, he noticed little nuggets of little bit of gold, little bit of silver, little bit of precious stones.

And so he took a little brush and he took all the ashes away and then he just brushed his little pieces of gold, silver and precious stones into a little tin. Maybe that's the way it's going to be. We're talking about serious business here, folks. We shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Now you say, well, Pastor Lutzer, what is Jesus going to be looking for? Excellent question. Glad you asked it.

I wasn't going to answer that question, but I received an email from someone who watches us on the internet. So Bill, thanks for your email because I'm going to respond to that question. Sometimes when I preach on this topic, I preach a separate message on the question of what Jesus will be looking for. But since this is the only message on the judgment seat, I better give you four or five things that Jesus will be looking for because you should know what's going to survive the fire.

I mean, is there any question in all the world that would be more important than knowing what is going to be the gold and the silver rather than the wood, hay, and straw? So let me give you four or five things Jesus is looking for. First of all, the joyful acceptance of injustice and false accusations. The joyous acceptance of injustice and false accusations.

Did you know that in the last year or two, seven books at least have been written saying that Christians are the real jihad and we are the ones that America should really fear filled with false accusations? Listen to the words of Jesus. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name. For great is your reward in heaven.

It'll survive the fire if you respond to it with joy. Something else, and that is, of course, financial generosity. The sixth chapter of Matthew, we won't even mention it because you know it there. Jesus says, lay up for yourselves treasures not on earth where moth and rust of corrupt and were thieves break through and steal, but lay up treasures in heaven. And he's talking there about our gifts. To think that you are a stingy Christian should make you wonder whether you're a Christian at all because Christians are generous people. And so I need to ask you, are you generous in your giving? Do you enjoy giving because God has given so much to you? And you give in such a way that you will meet it again in heaven.

Let me give you another real, real important way to have gold, silver, and precious stones. The 14th chapter of the book of Luke, Jesus makes this remarkable story. He says, when you hold a feast, don't invite your friends because they might have you back. He says, go out and find the lame and the blind and the infirmed and have them over because they're too poor to repay you. And then Jesus says this, if you do that, and these are his words, we shy away from rewards being thought of as payment. But Jesus didn't. He says, if you do that, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

Look for somebody who can't pay you back and invest in their lives and you'll have something that will survive the fire. Two more. Faithfulness in your vocation. Let's suppose that you go to work tomorrow and you don't like your job at all. You don't like the boss. Paul says in the book of Colossians, he says that whatever you do, do it heartily for the Lord and not for men. You don't like your boss, don't work for him. Work for Jesus instead and work for your boss as if he were this.

This is what the text says. For from the Lord, you will receive the reward of the inheritance. A joyful attitude, heartily working, merits reward. And then another one, loving the unlovable. Jesus said this in Luke 6.35. He says, love your enemies, do good and lend, expecting nothing in return and your reward will be great. God brings somebody into your life who is unlovable, completely unlovable. Maybe they're sitting beside you today.

Why that? God says, I bring them into your life because I want you to have lots of rewards. So start loving them and your reward will be great. Do you realize how faithful Jesus is? The Bible says that even a cup of water given in my name and you will not lose your reward. That's why the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 4 when it's talking about Jesus revealing the motive of men's hearts, it says that then shall every man have praise from God. Everybody is going to have some thing that God is going to praise them for. Every Christian will have something amid the ashes. Now I do need to clarify something at this point because some of you who are listening may not be believers in Jesus. You've never trusted Him as your Savior.

And you're misinterpreting everything I'm saying. You're saying to yourself, so this is the way to get in good with God. You are kind. You take in the poor.

You give money. You learn to love those who are unlovable. Maybe that's the way to heaven.

It isn't. All of our works are tainted with sin. And that's why the Bible says that we are saved not by works.

As long as you are looking into your life to find some reason why God should accept you, you are looking in vain. And all of us want acceptance. I just heard this past week that in Japan, for example, in a shame culture where there's an emphasis on shame, that many people when they are fired from their job don't tell their families because they want to save face. And within time, they may not even go home. They may become street people because they want acceptance. And this is such a blow to their acceptance that they can't handle it. We all want acceptance. And most assuredly, we want acceptance from God. But it only comes through Jesus Christ and receiving Him as Savior because He was accepted. And so we get to be accepted on the basis of His merit. You say, well, Pastor Lutzer, why is it that before a person is saved, his works are of no value to God, and yet after he is saved, they become so important to God?

A couple of things. First of all, because after we are saved, it is an expression. It is an expression of our devotion to Jesus as His children.

That's the first thing. Secondly, even now, as believers, all of our works are still tainted with sin, and Jesus takes them, cleans them up, and makes them acceptable to the Father. The Bible says that we are to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

There's no other way to be accepted even in these works. My friend, to bring it down to the bottom line, there is no good in us. Any good that is in us is Jesus Christ. That's what it comes down to.

And now I'm back talking to believers again. A couple of lessons that should transform our lives. We should leave here today and listen to this message as many times as we need to until we internalize what I'm going to say right now. First of all, it's very clear that every day is either a plus or a minus.

Every single day is either a loss or a gain so far as rewards are concerned. Whitefield was a great preacher in the United States of America, and he died and wanted this on his tombstone. He didn't quite get it, but I understand that the quote is close by. The manner of man George Whitefield was, that day shall declare.

Takes your breath away. Whitefield was criticized for his preaching. He had disagreements.

The newspapers sometimes didn't like him and wrote articles against him. In that day, nothing like that will matter because the manner of man George Whitefield was, that day shall declare. The manner of man Erwin Lutzer was, that day shall declare. And the manner of person you were, that day shall declare. Nothing but reality.

Wow. One day Diane Sawyer was interviewing Billy Graham and she said to Billy, how would you like to be remembered? And Billy just looked away. He didn't really answer the question. He kind of looked away and said, well, I'd like to hear well done, thou good and faithful servant, but I don't think I will.

And then he turned away. And if I remember correctly, that was the end of the interview. Two thoughts immediately crossed my mind. Number one, Billy, humility is good, but aren't you overdoing it just a little bit?

That's what came to mind. And then the second thought was this, Billy, if you're not sure that you're going to do well, what about the rest of us? But what Billy said is true from this standpoint. He's not going to hear well done because he preached to large crowds. That was his calling. The real question is not going to be how large the crowds were or the number of people who accepted Christ as savior under his ministry.

The real question is going to be, Billy, were you faithful with what I gave you? And that's why we can say with truthfulness that the people who are going to be rewarded the greatest are not necessarily the people that you have heard about. It's going to be the car dealer who actually ran an honest shop. It's going to be the missionary who was in far flung corners of the world that nobody ever heard of but was faithful with what God gave him or her. Those are the ones who are really going to be rewarded.

And every day is either a loss or a gain so far as rewards are concerned. One day, a man took me to an airport whose wife had a disease, and she was very, very difficult to get along with. The stories that he told me as to why he continued to love her were overwhelming. I won't go into detail. But when he dropped me off, I said to him, tongue in cheek, I don't expect to see you in heaven. He was a little surprised at that. But I said, no, I really don't expect to see you.

I said, I think that you're going to be so close to the front and I'm going to be so far back that we'll probably not meet. And I know I meant it half humorously, but I also meant it truthfully. The people who are going to be most rewarded are not those that you hear about but those who are faithful in their calling, whatever it may be. But every day is either a plus or a minus. It is true, you know, that little ditty that we sometimes sing, only when life will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last. Second, what is it that we are able to gain?

What can we gain? Well, what we can gain is the approval of Christ and reigning with him. I'm not suggesting that all Christians will not reign with Jesus, but it is very interesting that in the Bible there is frequently a connection of reigning with Christ and faithfulness. For example, Paul says if we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him. In the book of Revelation, you have repeatedly said, he who overcomes to him I will grant to sit with me on my throne. Now there's one sense in which all Christians are overcomers because they have believed in Jesus Christ as Savior, but I cannot believe that somebody who is saved yet so as by fire, as we illustrated, I can't believe that somebody whose life was lived selfishly for themselves is going to be rewarded obviously the same way as somebody who was faithful. You say, well, will everyone in heaven be happy? Everyone happy, just like a chandelier that it may have bulbs of different intensities. In the very same way, everyone contributing to the glory of God, everyone serving, but not everyone in the same position of responsibility because they were unfaithful here on earth and didn't care as to what would survive the fire and what wouldn't. So we can gain ruling with Jesus.

What an honor and unthinkable privilege. What is it that we can lose? Well, I take the point of view and some people disagree with me, but I take the point of view that not everybody is going to hear well done. Again, I refer to that selfish Christian who is saved and who thinks to himself, I can live now however I wish because my salvation is secure. I don't think, I don't think you're going to hear well done.

Maybe I won't either. We shouldn't take it for granted. You know, in India, there's a story that they like to tell about a wealthy Raja. He was coming along in his beautiful expensive chariot and there was a beggar along the side of the road and the beggar had his bowl of rice and the beggar thought, I wonder if he might stop to give me something. And so he held out his bowl as the Raja went by. To his surprise, the Raja got off of the chariot and went over and said to the beggar, beggar, give me some of your rice. The beggar was angry. Who is this man to ask me for some of my rice? But gingerly and with anger, he took one grain of rice and gave it to the wealthy man. The Raja said, beggar, give me more of your rice. By now, the beggar was furious, but he did take another grain of rice and handed it over to the Raja. Raja said, beggar, give me more of your rice. By now, the beggar was in a fury. He took one more grain of rice and gave it to the wealthy man who then got on his chariot and rode off.

In his anger, the beggar looked into his bowl and noticed something glitter. It was a grain of rice. It was actually a grain of gold, I should say, the size of a grain of rice.

Well, he looked more carefully and found just two more grains of gold the size of his rice. When we come to Jesus, we trade our rice for his gold, and it's the kind of gold that will survive the fire. So my question is, what are we withholding from Jesus anyway? What are we hanging on to that we say, this belongs to me, not Jesus, when eternity is coming? And we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account for the deeds done in the body, whether good or evil. Join me as we pray. Father, we pray, hear our prayer.

We are in great need because we realize that so much of what we do may be passing instead of eternal. Forgive us, Father. Forgive us for our selfishness.

Forgive us for failing to remember that we have to give an account to you. And for those who have never trusted Christ as Savior, we pray that even in this moment, they may believe. In Jesus' name, amen. When he shall come, we spend it in his glory.

To take his home from out this bed of night. O may I know the joy that is appearing, Only at once to walk with him in one. After this, I beheld in low a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations and kindreds and people, tongues stood before the throne and before the land, clothed in white robes and palms in their hands. What are these which are arrayed in white robes?

And whence came they? These are they which came out of the great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. O may I know the joy that is appearing, Only at once to walk with him in one. O may I know the joy that is appearing, Only at once to walk with him in one. And what much overcomers, these then are they who walk with him in white. When he shall fall from earth's remotest corners, O whom has stood triumphant in his sight, O to be worthy then to stand beside them.

And in that one to walk with him in white. On today's Moody Church Hour, Dr. Erwin Lutzer spoke about what happens when we appear at his judgment seat. Next time, don't miss a joyous look at what happens when we are the bride at his marriage supper.

Plan to join us. This entire series is now a book by Dr. Lutzer entitled, The King is Coming. A copy is waiting for you with our thanks for your gift of any amount to The Moody Church Hour. Just call us at 1-800-215-5001.

When you call, mention the book, The King is Coming. Call 1-800-215-5001 or write to us at The Moody Church, 1635 North LaSalle Boulevard, Chicago, Illinois 60614. Online, go to moodyoffer.com. That's moodyoffer.com. Join us next week for another Moody Church Hour with Dr. Erwin Lutzer and the Congregation of Historic Moody Church in Chicago. This broadcast is a ministry of The Moody Church.